Making metal tubes and similar articles.



E. MAERTENS. MAKING METAL TUBES AND SIMILAR ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1806.

Patented Sept. 17,1912.

7 WITNESSES. 4/6. MW

COLUMB quality,

of the number of such EMILE MAERTENS, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

MAKING METAL TUBE$ AND SIMILAR ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Continuation of application Serial No.52,015, filed March 20, 1901.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912. Renewed March 25, 1902, Serial No.

99,921. This application filed May 5, 1906. Serial No. 315,416.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMILE MAERTENS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State ofRhodeIsland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MakingMetal Tubes and Similar Articles, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention relates to the manufacture of metal tubes, or similararticles, and, more particularly, to piles or blooms from which; sucharticles may be produced.

The object of the invention is to produce such articles, particularlytubes. of superior with the fewest possible number of handlings andheatings, from the puddled or cast metal to the completed article,

thereby minimizing the cost of production,

and materially reducing this cost over any methods heretofore suggestedor employed.

In the processes now employed in making tubes from piles, it is thepractice to roll a plurality of trough or similar shaped sections,assemble a number of them to form; each of the two concentricmemberscom-- prising the pile, heating the pile on its side, and then rollingit to produce a tube. This, method results in an article having a largenumber of Welded surfaces, and in view surfaces, it is very diflicult,if not almost impossible, in practice, to produce tubes free fromdefective welds. Furthermore, the process is expensive on account of themany operations incident to carrying it out, the special rolling andtrimming machinery required in making the trough-shaped sections, thenecessary loss of material, and the extent of plant required.

With the foregoing, and other objects, in

view, one feature of the invention consists in assembling a plurality oftapering hollow masses of metal into a pile for the purpose of making atube therefrom, the walls of each of the saidhollow masses beingcontinuous in transverse cross section.

Another feature of the invention consists in assembling a plurality oftapering hollow masses of different metals, whereby composite tubes maybe made.

A further feature of the invention consists in assembling a plurality oftapering hollow masses of metal into a pile, in such manner that theweight of one of the masses is sustained by the. mass adjacent to it, sopile is brought to a welding that when the heat, incipient welding takesplace between the masses automatically. With this particular object inview the exterior form of each hollow mass or section is preferably thatof a frustum of a cone or pyramid, the walls of each mass being,usually, of uniform thickness. If desired, the walls of each section maytaperin thickness from one end tothe other, which tapering may beproduced in several ways, as in casting, or by gradually contracting theouter surface and expanding the inner surface of each tubular section.

It is not essential that the hollow masses of metal employed should becircular in cross-section, as to either their interior or exteriorsurfaces, though, preferably, the interior of the inner tubular mass isso formed. The exterior surfaces of all the sections or hollow massesmay be circular, or of any other desired polygonal form incross-section.

In the preferred form of pile, the proportions of adjacent hollowsections are such that the one can be inserted within the other farenough to bring the ends of the sections nearly, but not quite, evenwith each other, so that if the pile is stood on end, as it will be whenplaced in the furnace to heat it preparatory to elongating it to producea tube, or other article, one of the hollow sections will not touch thefloor of the furnace, but will have its weight sustained by row son ofits contact with an adjacent section. The result of this arrangement isthat, when the pile is raised to a welding heat, the pressure of onetubular section upon the other automatically produces a partial weldingtogether of the elements of the pile, and when they are withdrawn fromthe furnace they form a coherent hollow tubular mass of metal, such asiron or steel, that. may be easily and rapidly handled in the operationsincident to elongating the pile to produce the finished tube, or otherarticle.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated certain embodiments ofthe invention, but such drawings are to be understood as illustrative,only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

In said drawings: Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 are plan views of hollow massesof metal illustrating some of the forms which may V be adopted for oneelement of the pile; Fig.

'ment of the several forms section or member 2 are the same throughout.

tion shown,

grow thinner from instead .of two, into the construction of the pile,

'pilethus formed, with two'or more elements, is placed in theweldingfurnace, it is stood on end, as shown in is brought to a weldingheat theweight of 5 is a vertical section of .one element of the pile; Figs. 6,7 8 and 9 are plan views of assembled piles resulting from the employ-Villustrated in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 1, respectively; Fig. 10 is a verticalsection through one of the piles as shown in Figs. 6, 7 8 or 9; Figs. 11and 12 are vertical sections of other forms of piles; and Fig. 13 showsa completed tube,,

partly in section. One practical masses 1, 2, of iron, steel, or othermetal, in any suitable-manner, as by casting, or pressing, in molds. Thehollow mass 1, which is designed to be the interior element or member ofthe completed pile is, ably, formed circular in cross-section, andgently tapering from end to end, while its exterior may also be circularin cross-section,

as shown in Fig. 3, or have any other form' such as shown in Figs. 1, 2and a. I form the exterior sur-j shape of a frustumi desired, as, forexample,

face of section 1 in the of a cone, or of a pyramid, with a gentletaper, as will be understood from an inspectionof Fig. 5, and I form thesection or member 2 with an interior shape substantially similar to thatof the exterior of the member 1, but very slightly smaller, so that themember or section 1 may be nearly, though not entirely, within thesection or member 2, as shown in Figs. 6, 7 8,-

9 and 10, leaving the ends of the two elements in differentcross-sectional planes. If the pile, as thus assembled, be stood on .oneend, the entire weight of both sections .will be sustained on the "lowerend of section 1 (as in Fig. '10), and, if the pile be stood on itsopposite end, the entire weight of both sections will be sustained onthe then lower end of section 2. The exterior of the may be of any shapeor contour desired, though I prefer to so form it that the thickness ofthe walls of the pile In the construc- I accomplish this by slightlytapering thewalls of the member 2 from top to bottom on the outside, sothat the walls grow thinner from the top downward in proportion as thewalls of the member 1 the bottom upward. By inverting the pile,,as shownin Fig. 11, a third section or member, 3, may beslipped over the outsideof'se-ction 2, so that three, hollow masses of metal enter 'When theFig. 11, and as the metal the exterior mass or element causes it topress on the outer surface of 'the'inner member, and the two becomepartially welded tomethod of carrying out my. invention is as follows: Iform hollow'.

preferslipped elude the use of "when" manipulated in gether. The pilemay then be removed from the furnace and freely handled without anydanger of separation, thereby greatly facilitating the manipulation ofit to produce a tube,-or other hollow shape. It is to be understood thatthe hollow masses 1, 2 and 3, need not be allowed to entirely cool afterthey are cast or'molded, but may be assembled, as shown i. Figs. 10 and11, while yet hot and placed immediately in the welding furnace, therebyenabling the pile to soak, -or to be raised to a welding heat, with theleast possible consumption of fuel. The finished tubeor article may thusbe made, without employing more than two heating operations, includingthat of puddling or casting from the puddled or cast metal.

In the construction of pile shown in Fig. 12, the elements 4, 5, areprovided with parallel o-r non-tapering walls. In this constructionincipient welding cannot be produced in the manner described withreference to the piles wherein the members or elements have taperingsides; and in order to effect this function or result, the section 5 maybe shrunk onto section i. This may be accomplished in any desired way,preferably by heating section 5, so as toeXpand the same and thenslipping it over section 4. The pile may then be further heated toproduce the incipient welding, whereupon it is ready for the subsequentoperation of elongating.

In Fig. 13, I have shown a finished tube, and for illustrative purposes,only, have shown it as composed of two different metals,'or alloys, 1and 2 respectively, it being understood, of course, that I may make thetube from one metal or several metals as desired. It will be observedthat the tube as thus constructed is free from transverse welds, and,also, substantially 'free from longitudinal welds, for the reason thatin-manipulating a pile as described, the metal or metals of the severalelements are so closely blended as to produce, practically, ahomogeneous article.

It will be observed that in my method of heating the assembled elementsof the pile, the adjacent surfaces of thesections or elements are insuch close contact as to preclude any material oxidation of the metal onsuch surfaces, thereby permitting of a very perfect union or blending ofthese surfaces.

It will be understood that while the invention is particularlyapplicable to the manipulation of iron and steel the invention is notlimited to the employment of these metals,

out is broad enough to include and does 1nany other metals or alloys themanner herein described. A tube of most remarkable strength is obtainedby forming a pile having one member of nickel steel and the other memberor members of common iron or steel or other inferior metal. Preferably,I form the inner member of the most expensive metal as less of it isthus required. For example, in the construction of the pile shown inFig. 10, the inner member 1 may be made of nickel steel, and the othermember 2 is of any desired metal that will readily weld with the nickelsteel. In such cases the inner member-may, if desired, be made thinnerthan the outer member and the cost thereby reduced.

My method not only produces a better and stronger tube than those madeheretofore, in that the tube is free from the transverse welds incidentto tubes made from piles employed prior to my invention; but I, also,make the tubes more economically for the reasons that I operate,preferably, on piles made directly from east or puddled metal, generallysoft castable steel or puddled iron, and preferably, by directlymanipulating the pile to produce a tube without material loss of theheat present in the metal incident to the casting or pressing operation,thereby saving heat, labor, waste in material, floor space andmachinery.

My process of rolling, or otherwise manipulating the hot hollow ingots,blooms or piles into tubes, or similar articles, subjects the metal to aworking similar to what puddled iron or cast steel gets by hammering orrolling into bars, plates, or sheets, as now commonly practised. Insteadof forging or rolling the solid ingots or bars into plates and sheets,however, and subsequently making tubes therefrom, I elongate hollowingots or piles into tubes or similar articles directly. The workingwhich the puddled metal or cast steel gets in this operation convertsit, or tends to convert it, into wrought metal; in other words, intometal which has been wrought or made tougher and closer in texture thanit was before the rolling or equivalent manipulation.

The pile employed in my process, wherein the elements are integral orunitary, can be more expeditiously and readily handled than one composedof a plurality of members such as those heretofore employed. I

It will be apparent that slight changes in the process as described, orin the particular materials referred to, as employed therein, may bemade without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In a prior application filed by me on March 20, 1901, Serial Number52,015, I have disclosed, substantially, the invention described andclaimed in this application, and as to the subject-matter disclosed insaid prior application, the present application is a continuation ofsaid prior one.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A pile forrolling tubes consisting of an interior tubular mass of metal having atapering exterior surface, extending the full length of the said tubularmass, and a sec- 0nd tubular mass of metal surrounding and makingcontact with said exterior surface of the said interior tubular mass,the end of one of said tubular masses projecting beyond the end of theother tubular mass.

2. A pile for rolling tubes consisting of a plurality of telescopicallyarranged tubular masses of metal having tapering exterior and interiorsurfaces respectively contacting one with another and with their ends indifferent cross sectional planes, said tapering surfaces extending thefull lengths of said tubular masses.

3. A pile for rolling tubes consisting of two tubular masses of metalone telescoping the other, the inner tubular mass tapering externallyfrom end to end, the outer tubular mass tapering internally from end toend the ends of said tubular masses being located in different planes,and the tapering surfaces making an angle with the common axis of thetube, whereby on the application of a welding heat the two contactingsurfaces will be partly and automatically welded together so that thepile may be readily handled.

4:. A pile for making tubes consisting of a plurality of telescopichollow masses having tapering welding surfaces, one end of the outermass extending beyond the corresponding end of the inner mass and theopposite end of the inner mass extending be yond the corresponding endof the outer mass.

5. A pile for making tubes consisting of a plurality of telescopicintegral hollow masses with tapering and cont-acting welding surfaces,one end of the outer mass ex tending beyond the corresponding end of theinner mass and the opposite end of the inner mass extending beyond thecorresponding end of the outer mass, whereby, when the pile is stood oneither end, the weight of one mass is carried by the other.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

EMILE MAERTENS.

Witnesses:

OWEN STABLER, MARY F. DONAHUE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G.

